Mass Effect: Alliance Assault
by Blaster master 1942
Summary: Fic takes place before the Citadel Lockdown. Commander Shepard and his crew engage in a daring assault on a pirate-held world.Vanguard, War Hero. Please Read & Review.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect. Mass Effect belongs to Bioware.

(Fic takes place before the Citadel Lockdown. Commander Shepard and his crew engage in a daring assault on a pirate-held world. Vanguard, War Hero)

Chapter 1: Meet the Squad

I stepped out of my quarters, already clad in my black and red armor, with my helmet tucked under my armpit. My armor shone under the lights, which reflecting off my white "N7" insignia: it was a symbol that awed some and frightened others; it was a symbol of humanity's elite, a symbol worn only by the best soldiers Earth had to offer. Not to brag, but I hadn't exactly earned this rank by kissing a lot of ass, I earned it by kicking it.

On my way to the elevator, I spied one of my squad, Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko. He was still in his casual crewman's outfit, a grey short sleeved shirt and grey pants. Funny that such common attire was worn by such a powerful man; Kaiden was a biotic, and a powerful one to boot. He could use special cranial implants to harness Dark Energy, making him able to lift and throw adversaries with incredible force. He was sitting in the mess hall, with a bowl of some tan cream in front of him, but seemed more interested in tenderly massaging his pounding head than eating. That was the drawbacks to all his power: his implants gave him terrible migraines. Still, it's better than the brain tumors some other biotic users got. "Implant flare?" I inquired as I walked up next to him.

"I'm ok, Commander" Kaiden said, "It's dying down"

"Good" I said, "But eat something and get some aspirin from Dr. Chakwas anyway. That's an order. Besides, you look a little thin."

"I'm always a little thin" Kaiden chuckled as I walked away.

I also took the time to stop by Liara's lab behind the medical bay. Liara T'Soni was our local archeologist, specializing in the Protheans. She had been locked in her lab for the past 3 days studying some Prothean artifacts we had uncovered in an asteroid belt. She was most likely totally absorbed in her work and I figured she might have forgotten we had to be ready for our mission in 15 minutes.

"Knock knock" I said as I rapt on the doorframe and poked my head in. The beautiful Asari scientist looked up from her work and turned to me. "You better wrap that up" I said "We gotta shake a leg". Liara starred at me for a second, nonplussed. I realized my use of Earth slang had totally bamboozled her and cleared my throat. "You'd better finish up soon, we need to get going" I said more clearly. Her eyes dawned with apprehension, "Ah, yes. Of course, Commander." She went back to her desk, presumably to finish up a few last details of her work. I smiled and left.

When I arrived at the elevator, I found another of my crew, Garrus Vakarian. He was fully armored as well and was apparently waiting for me. "Commander!" He said as I approached, "I just wanted to discuss the mission with you. Make sure we were both on the same page before the attack." Garrus and I stepped into the elevator, discussing the battle plan and our equipment selections. Garrus was a Turian, which might make some people judge him unfairly. But not me; Garrus was reliable, smart and tough, qualities I admire in people, human or otherwise. He was an ex-C-Sec officer, a seasoned cop, and he had the mind of a detective, albeit a slightly brash one. We got to the lower levels of the ship, where we were supposed to gather. "I'll be right back" I said as I turned towards the engine room "I'm gonna go get Tali." Garrus nodded and went over to the Mako, to make sure it was operational.

As I headed down the hallway, I noticed Wrex leaning up against the wall. Wrex's eyes, which had been staring pensively at the wall, turned their crimson gaze to me. "Shepard" Wrex said curtly.

"Wrex" I replied with a nod as I passed. Urdnot Wrex wasn't big on words; he preferred actions, like me. Wrex was a Krogan, a dying warrior race, and as such, war was in his blood, his very DNA. But he wasn't an animal, far from it; he was a consummate professional, a true Krogan Battlemaster. He did his very best to be distant from the rest of us, but I could tell he had grown to like and even trust us, even if _he'd_ never say it. In fact, a lot could be told from Wrex if you knew what to look for. I knew just from looking at him that he was armed, armored, and ready for the killing to start.

Tali was in the engineering room, as usual, when I found her. She loved technology, and being in the heart of the sleekest, fastest, most advanced ship in the Alliance Fleet was a dream come true for her. She was typing on a console, overlooking the churning drive core, with her 6 dexterous fingers. Tali looked up from her console as I strode closer, and turned to look at me. Just beyond her purple visor, her pale eyes looked back at me. Though I wouldn't mind it, I'd probably never see Tali's face behind her hood and helmet. Tali was a Quarian, part of a nomadic race that needed to wear special suits to compensate for their lack of immune systems; without it, Tali'd die from a cold. Even with her handicap, Tali was a good person to have around in a jam. She was an experienced mechanic and hacker, and was lethal with a shotgun. "Tali" I said, "You better get your gear. We're shipping out in 10 minutes"

"Alright" She said with a nod, "Be there in a minute Shepard". I nodded back and left.

In the other part of the lower levels, where we kept our gear and Mako locked up, I saw Williams with Garrus getting prepared. Ashley Williams was a marine with the Alliance Navy, like me. She was tough and brutal in combat, but also knew_ volumes_ of poetry and was the oldest of three sisters. I was glad to see she was getting along with Garrus; when she first arrived on the Normandy she'd been wary of aliens, but as time went on she'd learned to work with and trust the non-human members of the crew. When she heard my approach, she turned to face me and snapped a salute. I returned it and her posture returned to normal, "All ready, Williams?"

"Just about", Ash reached in her locker and pulled out her rifle, checking it to make sure it was operational, "When are we heading out?"

"As soon as everyone shows up". She gave a grunt that said 'they better show up soon'. "You seem eager to fight."

"_We make war that we may live in peace_, Aristotle."

"I suppose there's some truth in that" I put my hand to my chin as I thought for a second, and then I had it: "_Sic vis pacem, parabellum. If you want peace, prepare for war_." I retorted. Ashley gave me a competitive smirk, "_There is nothing so exhilarating as to be shot at without result_, Churchill."

"What do you get when you cross a Mass Relay with NASCAR?" Kaiden cut in as he arrived, along with Liara, Wrex and Tali, "A relay race". There was a silence as Kaiden's terrible joke lingered in the air; only the sounds of the engines could be heard. "Anyway" I said, interrupting the quiet, "Time for our final check, then everyone in the Mako." Without a word spoken, my squad went to work: checking armor, inspecting weapons and readying shields. Then we filed one by one into the Mako, our 8-wheeled APC/Exploration vehicle. The Normandy was capable of dropping us, in the Mako, on top of a target. And with its boosters, the Mako could slow down enough for a survivable landing. They filed in, one by one; and as I watched them board, I realized that each of them had their own special skill that made them indispensable. Ashley was our hardened soldier, Kaiden was our most powerful biotic, Garrus had his C-Sec training and a detective's eye, Tali knew the Geth and a lot about machines, Wrex was a nigh unstoppable warrior and Liara had unique knowledge of the Protheans. But what did I bring to the table? What did I have to offer the team? I was the leader, the Spectre, the lynchpin that held this motley crew together: Alliance Commander Mason Shepard

This was a special mission given to me by Admiral Hackett. Normally the assignments Hackett gave me were standard stuff, but this was heavy. A pair of powerful pirate groups from the Terminus systems called "The Orions" and "The Ghosts of Doradus" had banded together and started hijacking Alliance freighters loaded with top tier technology; advanced computer modules, heavy cannons, you name it. Alliance Intel believed they wanted to arm some of the other Terminus groups and organize an invasion bigger than the Skyllian Blitz. Everyone knew that if the groups in the Terminus System were to get organized, they could pose a serious threat to Citadel space. Our job was to stop it before too many wheels got turning. They had a hidden complex on a planet near the edge of the Terminus System called Amestis. It was our job to go there, secure the technology before it could be used, and wipe out the pirate presence. If half of what Intel told us about the base was true, the base was going to be a tough nut to crack. But I was just the kind of hammer they needed. After, all if you wanted to stop the second Skyllian Blitz , what better way is there then to go with the hero of the first?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Hard Insertion

The _Normandy_ came in low and fast over the rocky, sun blasted surface of Amestis. The planet was a huge, planet wide desert; with few mountains, almost no vegetation, and remarkably a breathable oxygen/carbon dioxide atmosphere. The target complex was built into the interior walls of a huge crevasse; from here the base had ample protection from the rays of the nearby star. It, also, had a shield which could cover the crevasse to disguise the location of the base and protect it if the sun was directly overhead. Sensors on the _Normandy_ warned that the base's defenses were coming online and that their heavy MAC guns were warming up. The underside of the _Normandy_opened and the Mako dropped out of it. I waited a heart beat, and then activated its booster jets to slow us down. The APC hit the ground, bounced, and then landed and kept going, hurtling towards the base. "Nice driving, Commander", Garrus complimented. "If you like neck injuries", Kaiden muttered. With its deadly cargo delivered, the _Normandy_ pulled up and made for high orbit, where it would stand by for my signal. The batteries on the rim of the crevasse opened fire on the _Normandy_, but by now it was getting too far away and it diverted their turret's attention from us. "Williams!" I barked, "On the turret!"

"Roger Skipper!" she replied as she took control of the roof mounted turret and lined up her shot. "Fire at will!" I said, and without a moment's hesitation, she opened fire; firing high speed rockets, round after round. Her initial salvo was unchallenged, but once the automatic turrets reprioritized their targets, they swung down to fire upon the Mako. But by then most of them had been eliminated and I was able to nimbly dodge their shots with the Mako as Ashley finished the job. We parked close to the edge and dismounted.

The air was breathable, but hot. Reminded me of Chicago, the Earth city where I grew up, in July. "So, Shepard", Wrex said as he looked over the edge "Have a plan for how to get down there?"

"We tie ropes to the Mako and rappel down. With any luck we'll-" But I was suddenly interrupted by a metal groaning sound behind us. A hidden garage door had opened and a truck with a pair of ATV escorts came roaring out, bearing down on us. "Or we can use the backdoor" I said. Everyone raised their guns to open fire, but Kaiden leapt out first, his right arm glowing blue. He fired a biotic blast at the truck, and with the initial force of the truck hitting the blast, the whole truck crunched like an accordion, and the occupants were doubtlessly smashed into paste.

The pirates in the ATVs were undeterred and drew rifles. Kaiden's left arm began to glow as well, and with an upward gesture of his arm, he used his Lift biotic power and reduced the gravity around the ATVs. With their momentum, they rose up, sailed over our heads, and continued on into the precipice behind us. "Nice", Wrex said as a toothy smile crept along his face. "Not bad Lt.", Ashley complimented. "The door!", Garrus cried as he pointed. The door the pirates came out of was closing slowly. "Tali!" I yelled. "On it", the Quarian said in her synthesized voice as she typed furiously on her Omni-tool. She pointed it at the door, and with a blast of sparks, the gears in the door jammed, leaving it wide open. "Go!" I yelled as I ran forward. I had to lead by example after all.

The garage area looked like a typical garage, with work stations everywhere and dozens of various vehicles lined up for deployment. Our biggest issue was that there were people trying to deploy them. Pirates of seemingly every single race were scrambling to get to their rides and attack the invaders. Too bad for them we were already here. "Open fire! Sweep and clear!" I shouted as I raised my rifle and opened fire. We split up into 2 teams and covered both ends of the garage, advancing ferociously. Some pirate technicians took cover behind a wheel-less truck, but a quick biotic blast by me was more then enough to tip the vehicle over, thereby crushing them. Eventually, we trapped the last dozen of them in a corner; they had put up barricades and were calling for reinforcements. "Liara!" I yelled, "Use your Lift on them! Now!"

The Asari scientist was lightly armed and armored, but she packed a punch in her own way. She raised her kinetic barrier and stepped out of cover. Normally, the hail of gunfire would have chewed straight through her minimal shielding and cut her to pieces, but with her kinetic barrier active, she could withstand a punishing amount of fire. The pirates fired on her, but she just stood there and let the bullets bounce off her shield as she powered up her biotics. With the blue aura of the shield and her seeming invulnerability, she looked like some kind of Goddess; beautiful, wise and deadly. With a furious raising motion of her arms, the entire squad of pirates and their barricades rose into the air, surrounded by a blue energy.

They fumbled to reach for their weapons, but they had flown from their grips and they floated helplessly through the air. "Grenades!", I called as I threw one. Ashley, Kaiden, Wrex and Garrus also threw their hockey puck-like grenades at the free floating pirates. Five subsequent explosions later, all the pirates were no more.

Past the garage, we discovered an office and a computer. Tali started to type on the holographic key pad, hacking into the network. "Not very good electronic security for such a heavily armed complex", the Quarian commented. "They probably never expected for people to bust in their front door and start messing with the computer", Ashley said with a shrug. A beep issued from the computer and Tali gave a triumphant exclamation, "The computer is ours! I have full access to the security systems." "See if you can find a warehouse or something" I said, "We'll go on, you stay here and guide us."

"But, Shepard-!" Tali exclaimed. I knew what was coming. She was afraid I was leaving her behind because she was a Quarian. "Tali!" I interrupted her "We need a computer expert to keep us informed on enemy movement and help us remotely. And you're our best hacker". I tried to sound reassuring. "We're not leaving you behind. We need you here."

She thought on it and nodded. "Ok, I'll stay. But don't be gone long."

"Relax, I'm a professional." I said as the rest of us headed off.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Wrex's Rage

"According to the schematics" Tali said into our earpieces, "There's a warehouse on the other side of the chasm that has all the Alliance technology"

"Are you telling me we landed on the wrong side!?" Ashley cried.

"Better on the wrong side then over the side", Kaiden commented.

"Don't worry" Tali reassured "There's an elevator to a bridge that goes to the other side. But you'll have to cut through the mess hall. Watch out, there are some pirates who've barricaded the entrance."

"Roger" I said, "Let's go!"

True to Tali's word, when we rounded the corner to go into the mess hall, the pirates had turned the tables over and were using them as shields. But with a powerful burst of biotics, I blasted those tables away, scattering the pirates' cover and leaving them wide open. With no cover, they were torn apart like tissue paper. "Wrex, kitchen" I ordered, and the Krogan went to sweep the kitchen behind the food dispersal counter. I went to make sure the exit was clear; but as I opened the door Tali cried "Watch out!". I jumped away instinctively, but not before high powered MAC bullets tore through the door and punched straight through my shields. I took a few rounds in the torso and hit the ground, free from their line of fire. "Commander!" Garrus cried as he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me further from the door frame as more bullets ripped through the doorway.

"Sorry! Sorry! Tali cried, apologetically "I didn't see the turret! Sorry!"

"Relax" I said as I used some medi-gel to heal my wounds "I'm just glad you saw it at all." I took another look: the doorway was being bombarded with bullets, no space to get in and throw a grenade or use a biotic. "Tali, is there anyway around?!"

"…Yes! There's a door through the-" But before she could finish a bloodthirsty roar came from the door and the sounds of gunfire were replaced by screaming. We went to see.

Apparently, Wrex found a door that went around the gunner's position and had managed to sneak up on the gunner and his 3 friends. The pirates were too afraid to fire at Wrex as he ran up on them, and I couldn't blame them. When you see an angry Krogan Battlemaster up close and personal, it is not a pretty sight. Wrex brought his fist up and punched one of the pirates in the face, practically imploding his head. The gunner finally the nerve to raise his pistol, but Wrex hit him with a biotic blast and sent him sailing towards us. His back hit the top the doorframe and we all got a front row seat of this guy being bent to a 90 degree angle as his spine snapped.

Wrex then turned his back on one of the pirates in order to blast the gunner, and the pirate had the stupidity to try to tackle Wrex. The Battlemaster just spun around and smashed his arm into the man's chest, causing him to fly back into a wall, making a huge dent in the metal. The final guy raised his rifle and fired off a few shots, but at this range he had no chance of actually hitting. Wrex swatted his gun out of the pirate's hand and snarled. The pirate froze in terror and for a moment, neither of them moved. Then Wrex jerked his head towards him and the guy took off screaming down the hall, running for his life. I could practically hear Wrex count to 3 and then draw his shotgun and fire off a red ball of focused energy at him. Another second and the guy might have made it to the elevator at the far end of the hall, but that was a second Wrex didn't give him. The blast impacted his back and knocked him to the floor. He didn't get up.

I heard a strange gurgling scene and turned to find something you never thought I'd see: a sick Asari. The doctor was lightly covering her mouth with her hand and looked a little sick. She had told me she had had to use violence in the past to protect herself and was no stranger to combat, but I had the distinct feeling this was her first time seeing a guy literally broken in half. "Kinda much, don't you think?" Kaiden asked Wrex. "The way is clear isn't it?" The Krogan responded. To this, the biotic had no comeback.

We went over to the elevator and found it had been locked down. "Tali?" I called over the COM. "Working on it" She said, concentration in her voice "Just another minute."

"Dibs" Wrex said behind us. "Dibs on wh-?" But before I could finish my question, I turned and found that Wrex had lifted the heavy machine gun off its tripod and had it balanced on his shoulder like any other assault rifle. "We might need the firepower" Wrex said plainly. When Tali unlocked the elevator, the 6 of us scrunched inside and Garrus pressed the "Up" button. "Watch out Commander" Tali warned, "Hostiles outside the door"

"Roger" I said "Let's make a good first impression!"


	4. Chapter 4

( Sorry I'm a day late, I was at a friend's house and didn't have time. This chapter was inspired by the lobby shoot out from the Matrix, FYI - BM1942 )

Chapter 4: First Impressions

We certainly had a warm welcome. The second the elevator got to the right floor, half a platoon of pirates opened fire, punching dozens of holes into the doors before they opened. The pirates kept up their fire for a full 30 seconds before stopping to see if they had killed anything. A second later, the doors opened, but they couldn't see anything but a trio of white energy shields. It took them a moment to realize what they were looking at. But by the time they did, the energy shields went down and the rag-tag team of Alliance allies burst out.

The bridge was at the end of a long hall with a security checkpoint. The hall was supported by a number of pillars which provided amble cover for both sides. Garrus, Kaiden and I went along the pillars to the left, Liara and Ashley along the right, and Wrex went straight down the middle, ambling along like a tank with his heavy turret and a full biotic energy field around himself. Wrex provided an excellent distraction as we moved along the flanks and wiped the pirates out. As I went past a pillar I thought was clear, I was abruptly smacked over the head by a large Krogan pirate. He had apparently either lost his weapon or just preferred to crush people, because before I could recover, he grabbed me by the head and began to squeeze my helmet.

Suddenly the Krogan let go and began to roar in rage. I found that Garrus had nimbly climbed onto the Krogan's back and was wrestling to stay on, like a bucking bronco. The Turian unholstered his pistol and shot the Krogan three times into his open, roaring mouth. "Thanks" I said to Garrus as he dove for cover. Suddenly I heard Liara and Ashley yell.

Looking over, I saw that they had both been hurled through the air by a powerful biotic Asari pirate. She was clad in the grey armor of an Asari Commando, but with green tribal markings on her suit. I immediately targeted her for the rest of the group to fire upon, but she was a clever one. She hit Wrex with a Lift so that he flew up and smacked into the ceiling, losing his gun, and then she began to back flip to avoid our incoming fire. Once behind the counter of the security checkpoint, she shouted orders to the rest of the pirates to pull back to the other side of the bridge, indicating that she was a commanding officer. I ordered Kaiden to go see to Ash and Liara while Garrus and I went for the Asari Commando.

Garrus stayed a step behind me and typed on his Omni-tool. He wasn't as adept as Tali, but Garrus knew enough to disable a weapon or scramble a shield. As the Asari leveled her rifle at me, it malfunctioned in her hands, rendering it useless. I was willing to bet her biotics hadn't quite recharged yet and went with a biotic blast at her. I saw the top of the desk blast off and the thin metal wall behind her bend like a paper wall hit by a cannonball. But her biotic resistance was so high, she barely moved. She just threw her gun away and flipped over the desk like a professional acrobat. I fired my shotgun at the Asari as she ran at me and completely drained her kinetic shields. But before I could get off a second blast to finish her off, she kicked my gun away. Then she was all over me; barraging me with blows that even I couldn't follow. Asari Commandos were elite operatives and she had probably been training in martial arts for the last 30 years. That in comparison to my 5 years of CQB training. It was no wonder there was such a skill gap.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my squad aiming at the Asari, but she was too fast and close; if they fired I might get hit. She kicked me in the face and I was knocked to the ground. I expected for them all to fire, but no one did. But before I could wonder why, I looked up and saw the Asari commando's biotics had recharged and she was preparing to flatten me into the ground with a biotic push. But before she could, Ashley came up on her from behind and elbowed the Asari in the back of the head. The Commando was stunned and her biotics charge was cancelled out. She whirled around to meet Ash's fist to her face. Suddenly, the gunnery chief was calling on her self-defense training to mercilessly pound the Asari into pulp. With no time to react, the Asari didn't stand a chance. Then, with a final uppercut, she knocked the pirate commando into a spin and with a sickening _crack_ her forehead hit the edge of the desk, shattering her skull like a cheap ashtray. A 500 year old, elite Asari Commando was just beaten by a single pissed off girl marine. The irony was so funny I almost laughed. Ashley held out a hand to help me up. I took it. "You ok, Skipper?" Williams asked me. I tasted blood in my mouth and my jaw hurt like all hell, but I couldn't say that. "I'm fine. We should move on."

Past the security checkpoint there was a pair of doorways to some trams that would take us across the crevasse. Apparently the pirates who had gotten away had taken one of them, but there was a spare. We boarded the tram, which were about the size of a city bus, and I pushed the button to launch. Nothing happened. I pushed it again. Still nothing. "Tali?" I asked "What's wrong with the tram?"

There was a pause, and then she said "The pirates who retreated have severed the power to the tram manually. I can't hack into the system to restore power."

"Tali, I need an alternate path"

"Hang on" There was another pause "Ok, there should be an emergency hatch in the tram. It leads to the top of the railing maintenance area; you can walk along the top of the rails to the other side. But…"

"There's a catch, isn't there?" Kaiden asked

"They are setting up an ambush; the second you open the hatch, they'll be all over you."

"We'll have to handle it" I said "Garrus, Ashley, you two are on sniper duty. Cover us."

"Roger" They said in unison as they drew their sniper rifles.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: London Bridge…

With Wrex giving me a boost, I open the hatch and poked my head out to get an idea of the terrain. It was a narrow bridge about 10 feet wide, with basically no cover or handrails, and below us is a few hundred foot drop. The other side of the complex has various parts of grey construction sticking out, with windows and hangers scattered around. I saw this all for about a second, and then all I could see was red. I ducked at the last second as about a dozen sniper shots rang out and almost took off my head. Wrex let me down and I turned to my squad "Alright, they've got at least a dozen guys out there, and we have no cover. Everyone equip shield batteries" We all equipped out suits with the batteries so that the shields would be stronger "Everyone but Garrus and Ash run for the other side. If we sprint, we should make it. Tali, can you provide any assistance?"

"Let me see…" The young Quarian mused as she went over her controls "I can overload a few power conduits, maybe close a few windows on the snipers."

"Do what you can, but wait for my mark." I readied my biotics and fired up, blasting the hatch off. Maybe the resulting blast would throw off their aim. Wrex boosted me up and I turned to help everyone up. As I could feel the sniper dots on me, I could also hear explosions behind me; Tali's handiwork. We worked together to pull Wrex up last and then sprinted for it. Garrus and Ash ran a few feet behind the rest of us as they provided sniper support. About halfway there, the sniper fire picked up as they got their bearings again. Ashley got hit in the torso and knocked back, her rifle sent spinning. Garrus, who was slightly ahead, saw her in trouble and doubled back for her. But as he did, the bridge gave a great shudder. "Shepard!" Tali screamed into my ear. "They've set charges! They're going to blow the bridge! GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Everyone move!" But as soon as the words left my lips, I suddenly heard a muffled explosion, a terrible scream of twisting metal and felt the bridge give under my feet, but only for a second. In that second, I realized that the bridge was glowing blue. I looked over and Kaiden had his biotic powers active. Weapon's fire whizzed by his ears, but he just held the extremely heavy bridge there. I knew he wouldn't be able to hold it for long and made a run for the other side. We got to the other side and there was another great screech of metal as Kaiden's powers gave way and the bridge started to fall. Kaiden began to collapse; but before he could hit the ground, I activated my biotics and used as much energy as I could summon to pull Kaiden towards us. He flew through the air, but wasn't quite there. I had to lunge to catch his hand, and when I grabbed it, Liara and Wrex had to grab onto my belt to stop me from falling. As we pulled Kaiden up, I heard the bridge crashing below and remembered Ashley and Garrus. Once he was secure, I opened a channel "Ashley? Garrus? Respond, over!"

"We're alright Shepard" Garrus wheezed, breathing heavily "but we're on the other side from you."

"How's the Lt.?" Ashley asked with a little worry in her voice.

I looked over at Wrex. "He'll live" The Krogan said simply after checking his vitals. Kaiden was bleeding from his nose and ears, a sign of overtaxing his biotics. "He'll be ok" I assured Ashley.

"Shepard, what are your orders?" Garrus asked "We could look for another way across or-" He was interrupted by a burst of static on the COM.

"Mayday! Shepard, I need help!" Tali yelled "They've found me! I have the doors locked, but they're trying to cut through! I don't think I can hold them all off!"

"Shepard, we have to save her!" Garrus cried.

"Agreed" I stated "Get over there and save Tali, then try to find another way across"

As I moved through the base, I could hear their radio chatter. "They're almost through!" Tali cried. Tali was a capable fighter, so for her to sound so scared there must have been a hell of a lot of pirates.

"We're nearly there!" Garrus said "Hold your position!"

"Don't die on us Tali!" Ashley said

As we went through the base, we found ourselves on a promenade with a view of the other side of the crevasse to our left. I put up the "stop" hand signal as I heard the whir of engines. From across the canyon, a trio of scout fliers was coming towards us. Before I could order anything, they opened fire. Rockets screamed towards us. "DOWN!" I yelled as the rockets impacted. The concussions rattled my teeth, and we scattered. We ducked behind the short wall they had for a safety rail for cover as they used their wing equipped mass field generators to hover and fire at us with machine guns. I saw that Liara had been knocked unconscious by the blast and lay exposed. I ordered Kaiden to get her while Wrex and I covered him. I fired a biotic blast at one of them, but it only jolted the flier: my biotics weren't sufficient to knock it out of the sky. Though while it was stunned, Wrex laid into it with his heavy turret. The armor piercing bullets tore off one of the flier's wings and it spiraled to its doom.

"I'm out!" Wrex said as he threw the heavy gun aside and raised his regular rifle. Kaiden brought Liara back and I had his help Wrex as I checked Liara's vitals. She was unconscious and bleeding from a cut on her temple. But other then that, she seemed to be alright. I shook her, trying to wake her up. My biotic blast barely did anything, but Liara would be able to take then out. Kaiden might be able to, but I wasn't going to ask him to use his powers again so soon after he'd almost overloaded his biotics to save us. It was no use, she wouldn't wake up. I put her arm over my shoulder and put up a waypoint for us to get to the other side of the promenade. But as we began to move again, more rockets fired and exploded around us. The blasts knocked me to the floor and Liara fell next to me. I struggled to get up, but my ears were ringing and it was hard to think straight. Those rockets must have hit closer then I thought.

Suddenly I was jerked off my feet and was being guided to the doorway. I looked over and found Liara had reversed the situation: now she was pulling me along. With one arm holding me, she reached her other arm out and her biotics activated. The two fliers glowed the same bright blue and flew sideways into each other, exploded and fell into the pit below. As we go to the other side, the Asari scientist leaned me against the wall and the ringing stopped. As my brain got unscrambled I looked up at Liara, who shows a lot of concern. "Are you alright Shepard?" She asked in her gentle, angelic voice "Are you injured?"

"I'm fine" I said "Thanks for the save back there"

"Not half bad, T'soni" Wrex said "Glad you're on our side."

Liara smiled in appreciation.

"Let's get going" I said as we went on.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Guns… Lots of Guns

"Garrus, Ash, SITREP!" I ordered over the COM. "Tali is secure" Garrus replied "But there's a problem."

"What problem?"

"Her suit's been breached" Ashley said. "SHIT!" I swore. Quarians spend their whole lives on star ships; sterile environments. Being raised like that meant that they had basically no immune system and they had to wear their suits all the time when in atmosphere, lest they catch a virus and die. "Is she ok?"

"We managed to seal the breach pretty quickly" Ashley said "But she's coughing pretty badly. She must have caught something." I considered my options "Garrus, is there a medical bay near you?" Garrus must have consulted the garage computer, because a moment later he responded "Yes, not far from here"

"I want you to get her there and get her some anti-biotics; maybe they can kill it before she dies. Hurry!"

"Affirmative" Garrus said "We're on our way. Out." As went on I felt totally helpless: one of my squad was dying and I wasn't there to help. But I also trusted Ashley and Garrus to save her; just as I'd trust them to save my own life. All I could do was hope and pray.

We finally got to the warehouse entrance. The door was locked down, but strangely it was bereft of any kind of guards. Kaiden went over to the control panel and started working on hacking his way in. "Hmmm…" The L2 biotic mused "Quite a complex algorithm. Might take me a few minutes to-"

"Back up" Wrex said as he raised his shotgun. Kaiden looked over his shoulder, saw Wrex, and barely moved out of the way in time as Wrex fired a charged shot at the control panel, blasting the panel off. "What the hell are-!?" Kaiden began, but before he could finish, Wrex reached his hands into the guts of the panel and rearranged some wires. With a beep, the blast doors of the warehouse opened. Kaiden was at a loss of words.

"Crude, yet effective" Liara commented. We entered the warehouse, making sure to watch our corners and stat alert. All around us were stacks and stacks of boxes, vehicles covered in tarps and rows and rows of gun rack. Wrex went to one of the gun racks. Wrex went over to the racks and picked up the biggest missile launcher he could find "Dibs."

With Wrex's new toy in hand; we continued to investigate until we found a computer that had the manifest. "Alenko, you stay here" I ordered "Check the computer. Wrex, guard him. Liara, let's see if there's anything we can use." The Asari and I went over to a nearby cargo crate and cracked it open. Inside was some kind of generator with circuitry and tubes still coming out of it, indicating that it had literally been ripped out of its parent ship. But something was wrong. "Shepard" Liara said, hesitantly "This isn't Alliance technology"

"I know" I said grimly.

"Do you recognize this?"

"Yeah… It's Geth."

These pirates must have been either very brave or very stupid to mess with the Geth. The synthetics didn't like having their things stolen and I knew it was only a matter of time before the Geth tracked their tech down and arrived here. And once they arrived here, they were going to kill every organic thing that got in their way; pirate or not.

Liara and I ran back to Kaiden and Wrex's position, where Kaiden was accessing the computer. "Commander!" Kaiden exclaimed "You gotta see this! According to the manifests, this warehouse is only 30 Alliance hardware, the rest is Turian and-"

"Geth, I know" I interrupted "We need to finish this up quick"

"But sir!" Kaiden Interjected "Think of what we could learn here!"

"Alenko, as much as I would love to have the time to check all this tech, we need to call the Normandy and have them call in some support" The L2 looked angry, so I put up my hands "Kaiden, I know how big this is. We'll try to get all this stuff in for study. But first we have-'

"_Normandy_ to Shore party!" Joker said over the COM "Do you copy?"

"We read you Joker" I responded.

"We read you also" Garrus said.

"Sir, we got a big problem!" Joker said "There's Geth ships pouring out of the Mass Relay and they're heading straight for you! At least 8 or 9 ships! ETA 30 minutes"

"Aw Hell!" I swore "Joker, engage the stealth systems and stay out of sight! Go send word to Hackett that we need assistance, and then get back here; we might need a hot pickup!"

"Roger! Be back in a bit! Don't do anything stupid Commander; we all need you in one piece! Joker out."

"What would the Geth be doing here?" Ashley asked over the COM "Are they after us?"

"No" I said "We found some Geth technology that they ripped off"

"Jesus" Ashley exclaimed "They stole from the Geth? Those idiots!"

"We don't have a lot of time" I said "Get Tali and we'll go from there."

"Roger. Garrus out."

"Ok" I turned to Wrex "We need to grab as much of this data as-" then I noticed that he wasn't looking at me, but past me. So were Liara and Kaiden. I turned and, to my surprise, at the entrance was a group of elite looking pirates with weapons and biotics trained. We were caught with our pants down.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Devil Himself

At the head of the group was a Turian. He had a dark brown carapace with and bore traditional Turian war face paint. It looked like a big, green H on his face; with the joints where the vertical and horizontal lines meet covering his eyes like a raccoon's mask. One of his mandibles was also gone; doubtlessly a souvenir of battle. "So" The Turian said in a low growl "You must be the infamous Commander Shepard. I still can't decide whether your attack was an act of courage… Or stupidity."

"Probably a bit of both" I replied dryly as my hand slowly reached for my pistol. There was a symphony of clicks and clacks as the dozen or so pirates snapped to attention and focused on me. "Don't try anything cute, Shepard" The Turian leader said, his own pistol pointed at my chest "I didn't get to be leader of the Ghosts of Doradus by being an idiot."

"So, you're Tanis Taverenoc? Wrex said with a smirk "You look taller on the holo-screens"

"And you must be Urdnot Wrex, the Krogan who pals around with Shepard" Tanis returned his gaze to me "Well, I'm afraid even a Krogan Battlemaster isn't going to save you, Shepard. Thought I must applaud you for defeating Jil'ara. She was one of my best."

"Oh yeah" I said as I massaged my chin "She and I really hit it off"

"Hmm" Tanis scoffed "Funny guy. Well you won't be smiling for long. Even now, my forces are…" But at that point I stopped listening to Tanis, I hadn't realized it before, but Kaiden was in the perfect position, hidden behind Wrex's massive bulk, to type on his Omni-tool without anyone seeing. He looked over at me and gave a wink. I returned with the smallest of nods. Kaiden pushed the last button his Omni-tool and to the pirate's left one of the tarps lurched up with a mechanical groan. The pirates swiveled around; weapons aimed, but didn't fire. The 

instant their guns were off of us, I turned and broke into a run and the others followed my lead. We ran off I hoped we could get to the other side of the warehouse and maybe find another way out. I looked over my shoulder as I ran, curious to see what horror Kaiden had unleashed. The thing under the tarp fired a blast of blue energy and 2 pirates instantly disintegrated. The remains of the tarp disappeared under the withering gunfire that ensued. Underneath was a stolen Geth Colossus: an elephantine, quadrapedic walking Geth tank. I could only surmise that Kaiden had hacked into its systems and rewired its IFF systems so that it would recognize us as friendlies and the pirates as enemies. The Colossus was more then enough of a distraction for us to slip away.

I looked at my mission timer. Before we left the warehouse, Kaiden managed to find another computer and downloaded as much information on the contents of the warehouse as he could. But it would never be the same as having the contents itself. According to my clock, we had about 15 minutes left before the Geth showed up to lock this place down. We had to be out of here by then. "Commander?" Ashley piped in over the COM. "What is it Williams?" I replied.

"I think we've found something you may be interested in."

"It's a cache of Alliance weapons" Garrus said "There's some tactical warheads here we might be able to use." Suddenly I skidded to a halt, a sudden realization dawning on me. "Shepard?" Liara asked "Are you alright?" I barely heard her; I was having a brainwave, my thoughts racing and formulating a plan. And then I had it. "Commander?" Garrus said over the COM "What is it?"

"Garrus, I have an idea" I said "Tali!"

"Yes Shepard?"

"I want you to arm those bombs."

"Which ones?"

"All of them."

"ALL OF THEM!?" Ashley and Garrus exclaimed.

"All of them" I confirmed stoically.

"Commander, with respect, have you gone insane!?" Ashley cried "I don't think you realize just how many bombs there are here!"

"Actually, I hope there's enough" I said "Tali, can you rig all those bombs to a single timer?"

"I-I think so" Tali said hesitantly.

"Commander, I-" The Gunnery Chief started. "Ashley!" I interrupted "I know this sounds crazy, but I only have one request right now; and that is that you guys to trust me!" There was a pause over the COM, and 10 agonizing seconds later Ashley responded "Yes sir, we'll get it done. Williams out."

"Your plan is crazy" Wrex said "But I like it"

"You plan to leave the explosives" Liara said "So that when the Geth arrive, they will be destroyed?"

"Yeah" I said as we started running again.

"Do you think this will work?" She asked.

"I hope so" I confessed "I'm making this up as I go"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Dukes of Amestis

We arrived in a hanger and inside were group of pirates, boarding a small shuttle; probably trying to escape. They hadn't detected us yet, so I took the initiative. I gave the order and Wrex aimed his missile launcher at the shuttle and fired. The first blast tore open the side and blew off a wing, but Wrex fired again and the shuttle blossomed into an explosion of metal and fire. Some pirates that hadn't boarded the shuttle were send sprawling by the blast and were too stunned to defend themselves as we swept the place clean.

"Clear" Wrex said as he lowered his weapon. I looked over at the hanger's main door and saw the other side of the crevasse. I walked over to the edge and looked over. "Tali" I said into my COM "Come in, over."

"I'm here" She replied tersely, indicating that she was busy.

"How's that bomb rig-up coming?"

"Iiittt's…. Done!" She exclaimed "Bombs are armed and ready for a detonation time."

"Give us 60 minutes."

"Commander" Garrus interrupted "60 minutes isn't enough for us to get anything of worth. We need more time!"

"That's time we don't have" I interjected "We need a contingency plan, and this is it!"

"Commander-"

"Garrus, what did I ask?" There was a pause on the COM, and then Garrus responded "Right, I do. Sorry sir." I looked over the edge of the hanger door again and got another crazy idea. "Garrus" I said "I want you to go to Hanger D-18 and hold there, do you copy?"

"We copy, moving to your mark. Out."

"What are you thinking this time, Shepard?" Wrex asked.

I just smirked.

Using biotics to clear the wreckage, he cleaned the hanger of debris from the destroyed shuttle. "I don't think this is a good idea Commander, are you sure about this?" Kaiden asked as he buckled in. "If we have enough horsepower, there's no reason it shouldn't work" I said "Besides, we don't have any other way across."

"Landing's gonna be rough" Wrex stated.

"So buckle your seatbelt" I said to the Krogan before I turned on my COM "Ash, Tali, Garrus! Status?"

"The hanger is secure" Tali said "What are your orders?"

"Watch your head" I said as I revved the engine of the truck that was parked in the hanger. I slammed on the accelerator and took off. I reached top speed just as we went over the edge. "Hang on!" I yelled over Liara's and Kaiden's yell and Wrex's cheering "We're going in!" We landed in Hanger D-18 at an awkward angle, twisted around, skidding on our side for a second, started rolling, and then smashed into the wall, halting the truck on its side. Liara, Wrex, Kaiden and I all crawled out way out and set our feet in Hanger D-18, where Ashley, Tali and Garrus stood in awe. I brushed myself off and turned to team as they crawled out of the wreck "Is everyone ok?"

"I am… Uninjured" T'Soni said, slightly dazed.

"I'm good" Wrex nonchalantly.

"Thank God for helmets" Kaiden remarked. I turned back to the other three in my squad "You guy's all ok?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Ashley asked.

"Go ahead"

"That really took some real balls to pull off… Sir" She said, still stunned.

"You never cease to amaze me, Shepard" Tali breathed. I noticed a small metal patch that looked like it had been welded onto her suit, just below the left breast. "Tali, are you ok?" I asked "I heard you ran into some problems"

"Garrus and Williams both saved me" She said "And Garrus gave some repairs to my suit." Garrus looked away in what I could have sworn was embarrassment "It was… Nothing. I couldn't just let her die"

"Good work Garrus" I said with a smile "But we have more important issues." Suddenly a round just barely missed my head as another squad of pirates entered the hanger from the other side and fired at us. Everyone raised their weapons, but I waved my hands "Leave'em! We gotta move!" We took off, fire all around us. I got to the door first and fired back while the others went through. But as I did, a trio of 'Carnage' blasts sailed at me. I tried to get out of the way, but one of the shots caught me square in the chest and I was sent sprawling. Now shield-less, I propped myself up and fired back with my pistol, having lost my rifle. I also drew my secondary pistol and fired with that. I always carried two pistols; after all, I have two hands, right? I saw one of my shot take one pirate in the head before I felt a biotic field envelope me and pull me back like I was tied to a race car that had just taken off. I hit the floor and slid under the door just as it closed. And as soon as it was, Tali typed on her Omni-tool, locking the door. I looked up and Kaiden had a hand out. "Thanks" I said as I took it and he helped me up "Guess we're even."

"Looks that way" The L2 biotic said "But I still wanna buy you a beer."

"You know I don't drink"

"Yeah."

"Anyway, C'mon!" I said and we ran for it.


	9. Chapter 9

(Short Chapter, but lots of stuff happens in it! Enjoy!)

Chapter 9: The Geth Swarm

"Garrus did you get the data from the storehouse?" I asked as we ran.

"Of course" He said proudly, "I have it on my Omni-tool".

"Good, and we got one, I just want us to get the data from one more before-". But suddenly we rounded the corner again and found ourselves on another promenade, and on the other side was another ambush of pirates. They had set up 2 turrets like the one outside the mess hall. And in the front, again, was Tanis. Apparently he had survived the encounter with the Geth Colossus and he looked really pissed off.

"SHEPARD!!" He yelled, "YOU'RE DEAD, YOU FILTHY HUMAN!!" I raised my pistols, but before I could fire and put a round through that ugly Turian's face, there was a great whooshing sound and we all looked up to find the long-awaited Geth ships had breached the atmosphere. "NO!" Tanis cried, "NOT THEM!" A dozen Geth drop ships descended into the canyon and began to attach to the walls like flying leeches. All over the canyon, gunfire and fires erupted as the Geth began to systematically erase the complex. I needed to use the time while Tanis was distracted. "Biotics!" I yelled, "Now!" Before the pirates could stop us; Liara, Kaiden, Wrex and I stepped forward and did a combined biotic blast that slammed into the pirate ranks like a tidal wave, scattering them and making a nice clean corridor for us to run through. I spotted Tanis as I ran; he had been blown back and knocked his head on a wall, knocking him cold. I considered shooting him here and now, but there was no time. And besides, the idea of him on a Husk-making spike made me feel better.

We finally got to the last warehouse and I ordered Tali to start hacking into the manifests and get as much data as she could. Kaiden came from around a corner "Commander, I- Watch out!" I spun around to find a shotgun in my face. A Salarian pirate had gotten the drop on me. But 

before I could blink, Garrus grabbed the lone pirate's arm and jerked it upward, out of my face, so that it fired into the air. Then there was a sickening crack as Garrus broke his arm. And as the pirate began to scream, Garrus used a style very similar to Earth judo to put the man's broken arm over his shoulder and flipped him over. Garrus' opponent landed with a heavy thud and Garrus used the shotgun he'd wrestled out of the pirate's hands to shoot him point blank, eliminating him. "Nice work Garrus" I commented, "Where did you learn those moves?"

"C-Sec basic hand-to-hand training" The Turian stated with pride, "With a little improvising".

"Probably a straggler" Wrex speculated, "Hid here to hide from the Geth."

"Well be better finish up here before more 'stragglers' show up" Ashley said.

"Or the Geth" Tali said grimly, "If they find us here we'll be dead for sure".

"I agree" Liara said, "If they find us, we'll be outnumbered and overwhelmed".

"Everyone relax" I said, trying to sound calm despite knowing just how right they were. "They don't know we're here and with any luck they won't get here for a while. So we just need to have the info and be out of here before that."

"But Commander" Tali said, "This is a tough security, even for me. Hacking my way in may take a while".

"Take your time" I said. Suddenly a chirping noise caught my attention and I spun, catching a glimpse of a Geth Stalker just before it jumped behind a crate. I opened my mouth to shout an order, but before I could say anything, Wrex fired his missile launcher in the direction he had seen the Stalker go. There was an explosion followed by a sharp squeal I recognized as a Geth death scream. There was a momentary pause, in which we all held our breath.

I spun around to face Tali again, "Belay my last order; hurry!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Hold This Position!

We switched our ammo types to Tungsten; rounds specifically made to tear through metal like tissue paper. I had Kaiden seal the doors, and Wrex and Garrus push boxes around for us to use as cover. We had also covered Tali and the panel she was working on with boxes, so her getting hit in the crossfire wouldn't be an issue. We'd need all the advantage against the Geth we could get. As we shored up out defenses, there was a sudden hissing sound as the Geth on the other side began to burn a hole through the door. "Tali" I said quietly as I sat behind the barrier "How much more time will you need?"

"No more then another 10 minutes or so" She whispered

'Damn' I thought 'We'll have been corpses for 5 minutes by then unless I can think of something'

"Ok" I said aloud "Everyone down. No one fired until my signal. Wrex, don't use your launcher yet, I want you to save your last 2 rounds."

We waited as the cut their way through the door, making a nice rectangular opening. When the door fell away, the Geth cautiously advanced into the warehouse. I waited for 3 seconds, then rose and threw a grenade. The grenade exploded in icy explosion that snap-froze some of the Geth and damaged more of them. Then Ashley threw an incendiary grenade, which blasted then in a wave of extreme heat. My hope was that whatever the Geth were made of would obey the laws of metal and would deform when frozen and then heated rapidly. It seemed to work, since the rest of the Geth not caught in the immediate explosion seemed to be slowed and disoriented. We opened fire and our Tungsten rounds tore right through then like a knife through jello. The initial wave was taken our quickly and efficiently, but then more began to pour in, firing their Geth pulse rifles. We returned fire, and with our superior positioning, weaponry, and the fact that they were caught in a corridor meant they would have to slog through our fire until we were inundated by their sheer numbers.

Agonizing minutes passed as we poured the fire on, making sure to alternate firing groups so that we wouldn't all overheat. I dropped my pistols, unsung my shotgun with my other hand and fired a Carnage blast. The resulting shot took down 3 Geth at once.

"TALI!" I yelled as I picked up my pistols again.

"I'm almost done Commander!" The Quarian girl yelled back over the gunfire "6 more minute!"

"Dammit!" I swore "Wrex! Launcher! GO!" The Krogan hefted the missile launcher and fire. The blast shook the room and sent Geth, or more accurately, pieces of Geth, flying in every direction. After the explosion, there was a long second of silence in which both sides ceased fire. Then the doors exploded in a blue blast. I peered through the smoke and saw that 2 Geth Armatures, smaller versions of Colossi, were coming in with a patrol of Geth troopers. The Geth advanced under a withering storm of fire, pinning us down. At that point, I knew it had to be now. If we didn't leave ASAP, things were going to get really ugly. Those Armatures could easily disintegrate any of us with one shot from its main gun. I heard a cry as Ashley's health made a sudden drop. "I'm hit!" The marine cried out.

"Kaiden! Administer first aid! We need-!" Suddenly I saw something that gave me an idea "Wrex!"

"What!?" Wrex called back.

"Fire your last missile on my mark!" I reached out with my biotics and grabbed a red crate about the size of a washing machine. It had a "Danger! Explosive!" symbol on it, and I hoped it was high grade stuff. With my biotics, I threw it at the Geth formation "NOW!"

Wrex popped up again, fired his last rocket and took a round in his hump for his trouble. The rocket struck true, or at least true enough. A millisecond after the initial explosion of the rocket, there was a second, far greater explosion that engulfed the Geth and blasted us all to the ground. There was a minute of nothing but the sound of sizzling. I stood up from my position and surveyed the situation.

The situation: crispy fried. The explosion had reduced the Geth forces and most of the doorway to molten slag. I don't know what metal the Geth are made of, but when you melted it, it smelled quite unholy. "Everyone ok?" I asked "Who's hurt?"

"I am, sir" Ashley said "But I'm ok, the Lt. saw to that."

"It's just a scratch" Wrex said "I've had worse"

"Alright, let's get out of here before more of them show up" I said "Tali, are you done?"

"Yes" She said "But there's something else"

"What?"

"I was looking through their records just now and found that they have some scientists prisoner. They're all experts in their fields and the pirates want to ransom them back to the Alliance."

"We have to do something!" Liara said "We cannot simply leave them at the mercy of the Geth!"

"We shouldn't endanger our mission over a few egg heads" Wrex replied calmly "There's more important things at stake, like our hides."

"Hey Wrex, don't forget" Garrus said agitatedly "Liara's a so-called '_egghead_' too. Would you leave_ her_ behind?"

"It's your call, Shepard" Wrex said with a wave of his hand.

I thought about it for a few seconds and decided "We have to try. What level are they on?"

"Three levels above us in the detention area" Tali replied.

"Let's move out!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 12: Hostage Situation

We arrived at our destination and took an elevator to the detention center. The elevator opened to a large area, with a control console off to the side. Inside were 3 people, on their knees, bound at the wrists. In front of them were a human and a Turian pirate, holding them at gunpoint. "Come on doctor" The human said "You'll make a good ransom after we blow this Popsicle stand."

"What's a 'Popsicle stand'?" The Turian asked.

"Shut up!" The human said "Now come on doc, we- Shit!" He has seen us, so we trained our weapons on them. "Hold your fire!" I said "Don't hit the hostages!"

The two pirates quickly moved around to put the hostages between us and them, raising the hostages off their knees to use as shields. "Easy Spectre" The human, clearly the leader of the pair said "No need for anyone to get hurt"

"Oh, someone's going to get hurt" Garrus snarled "But it's not going to be us"

"Don't be stupid!" The other Turian spat back "We have the hostages! You guys haven't got anything!"

"Drop your weapons and you can come with us" I said coolly "Time's not on our side, but I'm going to give you three seconds. After that" I shook my head "You're toast."

"You're bluffing!" The human pirate cried.

"One!"

"Please!" One of the hostages cried "You'll kill us!"

"Two!"

"We're getting out of here, Spectre!" The human pirate spat "And there's nothing you can-!" Before he could finish, Kaiden stepped forward. While they'd been distracted talking to me, I'd been secretly giving hand signal instructions to Kaiden. The Lieutenant's arms glowed blue and he used his Lift, not on the pirates, but the hostages. They sailed up towards the ceiling, no longer cover for the pirates, who were too surprised to react immediately. I trained my pistols on them, followed by a chorus of clicks as my squad pointed our weapons. "Three" I stated grimly. The pirates raised their weapons, but they didn't really have a chance. We cut them down before they could even cry out. Then we ran forward and Ashley, Wrex and I all caught the three hostages, and then started to work on getting them free. "Are you alright?" I asked one of the hostages as I undid his bonds. "You almost killed me!" The man cried indignantly "I could have been shot! Just who the hell do you think you are!?" The man had short grey hair, stress wrinkles on his face, and was wearing the remains of a once excellent scientist's lab coat. The other two hostages were in similar outfits, though they were noticeably younger. There was a young, white male with freckles, and hair and eyes of the same light brown. The other was an Asian female with black hair held in a tight bun and bright green eyes. They all appeared to be thin, injured and very dirty.

"I'm Commander Shepard" I said to the elder hostage "I'm here to rescue you."

As soon as the man was free, he whirled around and grabbed my shoulders, a look of hope and desperation in his eyes "I'm Dr. Hanscom! If you get me out of here, I'll get you whatever you want! Just don't let these savages kill me! Please!" I could tell in that instant that the man was the spineless type. The other male identified himself as Gilardi and the female identified herself as Shun; they were both Dr.Hanscom's assistants. 'Ok' I thought 'Now all we need is a way to exfiltrate in 15 minutes, or we'll all be vaporized.'

"Tali" I called.

"Yes Shepard?"

"While you were in the system did you see any more shuttles?"

"There were shuttles in hangers C-7, C-14, C-18 and C-23"

"We wrecked the one in C-18" Wrex said.

"Which one's closest?" I asked the Quarian

She consulted her map "2 levels down"

"Lead on!"


	12. Chapter 12

(As an apology for being too lazy to release a new chapter, I'm releasing two chapters and once! Enjoy, and don't forget to review!)

Chapter 13: Marines, We Are Leaving!

While we were in elevator, I called Joker.

"Are you guys ok down there?" Joker asked "Looks pretty crowded"

"Joker, we can't get back to the Mako in time" I said "We're taking a shuttle down the canyon. I want you to retrieve the Mako and scoop us up and out. There's no time for you to land."

"Commander" Liara said "The canyon may be too narrow for the Normandy to navigate, we must-"

"I can do it" Joker said, determinedly.

"Joker, are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes" He said with only a second's hesitation.

"That's what I like to hear" I said "See you in a few minutes"

We came to the hanger and found ourselves with a mixed bag. The good news was that the shuttle was there and seemed to be intact. The bad news was that said shuttle was on the other side of a Geth foothold force. A Geth dropship floated in the center, Dragon's Teeth spikes lined the walls and a platoon of Geth was between us and our ticket out of here. Instantly, all the flashlight heads swiveled to face us as he stepped out of the elevator. 'Oh, we don't need _this_' I thought. "Sh-Sh-Shepard…" Tali said; fear in her voice as the conquerors of her homeworld turned to face us "What do we do?" I looked up at the ship and got an idea. "Biotics!" I yelled as I stepped forward to put myself between the Geth and the hostages "On the ship!" my arms glowed blue and a small part of the drop ship glowed as well, but my power alone wasn't enough. "We'll distract!" Ashley said as she, Tali and Garrus ran to the left and right, firing into the Geth ranks and hailstorms of pulse blasts flew at us. I knew that not even the three of them could survive a wave of fire like that, so I stepped up my attempts. Liara, Kaiden and Wrex all helped me, and we slowly broke the ship's gravity field, making it crash down on the Geth platoon below. There was a screech of metal on metal and a terrible crash and explosion. "MOVE!" I yelled as I ran towards the shuttle and the other's followed. Most of the Geth were taken out by the crashing ship, but the few stragglers left were wiped out quickly as we ran into the shuttle. As Ashley hit the 'close hatch' button, I sat in the pilot seat and looked over the controls. I had had some training in this, but this was a Turian design and I didn't know how to pilot it "Does anyone know how to fly one of these?"

"Commander" Garrus said "I do"

"Then get over here!" I said as I stood up "We gotta go!"

Garrus took my seat and his hands flew over the controls, getting the shuttle ready for take off. A minute later, we'd taken off and began to fly down the canyon.

"Joker, where are the hell you?!" I called into my communicator as a quartet of beetle-like Geth fighters descended on us, firing their lasers. And with a big wing span, the shuttle had little maneuvering room. Suddenly, the ships were shot out of the air as the _Normandy_ descended into the canyon. A victorious smile began to spread across my face, but evaporated as I saw the Normandy begin to turn. "What the hell is Joker doing?!" Kaiden exclaimed. The Normandy was turning on its side, presumably to fit easier into the canyon.

"Saving us" Wrex stated "Or going down with us"

"Sir, I'm pretty sure the Normandy isn't designed for that!" Kaiden said, alarmed.

"Commander" Garrus said "The forward hold is opening"

"Decelerate and raise us up" I said "We have to let him scoop us up"

"Commander Shepard, this is insane!!" Dr. Hanscom exclaimed "You'll kill us all!" By this point, I could see that Garrus needed to concentrate and that having a professor screaming wasn't going to help; so I casually turned to the panicking doctor and swung a right hook, connecting with his temple and knocking him out cold. Unsurprisingly, no one said anything. "Do it Garrus" I ordered.

"Roger, Commander" The Turian said as he angled the shuttle upwards and pressed the button to decelerate. As we soared up and just as we slowed at the top of our arch, the _Normandy_ came up out of the canyon as well, swallowing us in the forward hold like an eagle swallowing a fish in mid jump. As the shuttle went in, our wingspan proved to great, and they snapped off as they hit the sides of the doorway. With the _Normandy_ in such a steep climb, the shuttle tumbled to the back of the garage area and smashed into the back elevator. Fortunately, the shuttle was relatively intact except for its wings and the elevator mechanism was undamaged. The hold doors closed and the_ Normandy_ sped off.

As the _Normandy_ broke atmosphere, there was a bright flash on the surface of the planet. The devices below had detonated, making a blast radius a dozen miles in diameter and vaporized the pirate base, the Geth, all their ships, and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment and weapons. The blast itself destroyed a small chunk of the planet and the thin atmosphere spread the radiation over 1/6 of the small, desert planet's surface. For years to come, the planet would be mostly uninhabitable. But in that instant, there was little in the universe whose beauty could compare.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 14: A Moment of Calm

Sometime later, I was reflecting on the mission as I checked my equipment and put away my armor and gear. We finished sweeping the shuttle into a corner of the garage and were on our way back to the Citadel to report. My eyes wandered over to the Mako as I closed the door on my locker. It was fastened into place and lay motionless. In retrospect, I realize I ran a risk when I asked Joker to pick it up; the Geth might have shot him down while he was getting it onboard. But it was worth it. After all, there were hundreds of Makos, but this one belonged to the _Normandy_. My mind also wandered to the Council, who wouldn't be happy with my methods. But there was nothing of use on the small, desert planet anyway and besides, no one the universe cares about was killed, right? I also had a feeling Udina was going to have conniptions about all the lost tech, but there was no way to get it all back. Not after the Geth showed up. Everyone else in my squad was busy getting food, being seen by Dr. Chakwas or sleeping in their hibernation pods. It was just me and the Requisitions Officer. Suddenly, as I put away my rifle back on the table, I looked around and realized that I couldn't see the Requisitions Officer anywhere. "Hello?" I called. No one answered. I walked over to the table where the Req Officer usually set up shop. He wasn't around. I found it strange; the guy usually ate here in his area and other then sleeping in the hibernation pods with the rest, usually spent all his time here. Suddenly I hear a squish as I stepped on something; I looked down and found I had stepped in a red liquid coming from under the table. There was no mistaking the substance. I knelt down and looked under the table. The Requisitions Officer was under there, dead and hastily stuffed under the table. There was only one reason: we have a stowaway. I stood up and went to use my radio; but before I could, an arm went around my neck and grabbed me. As I choked, a three fingered hand came around and grabbed my radio. "No need for anyone else to get involved" Tanis Taverenoc whispered into my ear in a deadly whisper as he crushed my radio "First, I'll kill you…Slowly; then your crew, and then this ship will be mine!"

"Like Hell!" I wheezed as Tanis squeezed my neck. I brought my booted foot up, and then back down again like a pendulum into Tanis' shin. The Turian winced in pain and his grip loosened enough for me to escape. I turned to face Tanis as he swung a punch as me. I ducked under and threw a punch of my own at his gut, but he was armored and I wasn't. My blow hit his armor and sent a wave of pain through my hand. As I held my hand, Tanis lashed out with a kick that sent me sprawling. I hit the steel grating and tried to get up. But as I did, Tanis grabbed me and threw me into the lockers. Ashley's locker door fell off and her gear fell out. I reached for her pistol that had landed near me, but Tanis put one of his claw like feet on my wrist. I looked up and Tanis was smirking down at me. In desperation and rage, I grabbed the closest thing I could with my other hand, Ash's elongated sniper rifle and brought it up, slamming the butt into the side of Tanis' face. The Turian staggered back. As he staggered, I leveled the sniper rifle at his chest. But Tanis regained his composure quicker then I thought and lunged at me; my aim went wild as I was knocked over. He tackled me over so that he was on top and we both had the sniper rifle in our grasp, struggling over it. But Tanis was stronger then me and began to push the rifle into my neck, trying to strangle me. But I wormed my leg and used my foot to push him off. He fell over the floor and I jumped up, rifle in hand again, but with different ideas. As Tanis tried to get up, I used the rifle like a club and slammed the butt down on the Turian's head. I managed to hit him three times as he tried to get up, before he grabbed it and yanked it out of my hands, tossing it aside. Now Tanis' mouth was bleeding and he already had swelling around one of his beady black eyes. I wasn't too hot either; my chest screamed at me with every breath and my neck ached.

Tanis' eyes burned with hate; and not just for me either, I could see that in his eyes. He hated humans…Like Saren. And I was, in his eyes, the embodiment of the human spirit. At the thought, if only for a second, I saw Saren looking at me, not Tanis. I blinked in surprise, and that was when the Turian chose to attack. He lunged for me with an almost feral cry. I dove out of the way and Tanis' legs hit the table, where we modified our weapons. Wait a minute! I spun around and found Tanis picking up a Stiletto VI, Kaiden's pistol. As he turned to fire at me, I dove; not for Tanis, but for a console on the wall. Tanis fired and the shot hit me in the left thigh. I hit the ground just short of the console and lay there for a second, agony coursing through me. I held the wound as blood poured out. I've been hit worse and could probably move, but Tanis had the gun now, and I was going to need all the surprises I could get. Tanis moseyed over to me, an air of smugness emanating from him "Got you this time Shepard. And this time there's no Geth to distract me."

"That's ok" I said through gritted teeth "I have a better distraction." With hidden strength, I slammed my fist into a button on the console and there was a beep, followed by a howling noise as the _Normandy_'s outer door opened. As Tanis turned around in surprise at the powerful suction, his gun went flying out of his grip and towards the opening door. I hit the button again quickly to stop the doors, so the door wouldn't open too quickly. With the door to the outside slightly ajar, the vacuum began to suck out all the air. I grabbed unto the grating of the garage floor and started to crawl my way over towards the open elevator. Unfortunately, Tanis wasn't finished yet. He mimicked me and tried to out-climb me. He was less injured then me, so he was able to go faster then me, though I was fortunate enough to have a head start. As he got close to me, he tried to grab onto my leg to grab me, but I gave him a blind kick. I felt my foot hit something hard and Tanis and I both gave out dual cries of pain; I had accidentally kicked with my injured leg. Finally, I made it to the elevator. I grabbed onto the side railing and turned myself over to a sitting position while looping my arm over the railing. Tanis was glaring with hatred at me, but I also saw, if only for an instant, fear. "_GET OFF MY SHIP!!_" I yelled over the maelstrom, and then I delivered a swift, meaty kick with my uninjured foot to the bloody side of Tanis' face. His scream of agony became a scream of rage as his grip slipped and he slid along the floor towards the back. Then he slipped through the crack, into the void, and the leader of the Ghosts of Doradus was gone for good, now floating in the velvety darkness. I hit the elevator button and the doors slid closed.


	14. Chapter 14

(This is the last chapter, I hope you've all enjoyed it. I'm considering doing a second Mass Effect story. If you like my writing style and would like to see a second story by me, leave me a review saying so.)

Chapter 15: My Crew… My Comrades… My Friends

At that point I realized that I had been having a hard time breathing. Probably because the oxygen had been gone or going. I leaned against the wall and knew I had about 2 minutes before the doors would open and my team would be waiting for me; the decompression would have set off alarms and Joker would have given the alerts. And everyone knew I was the only one in the garage. I'm sure they're all waiting for me outside the doors. Ash would be concerned for me; in the most professional way, of course. Garrus and Kaiden would want me to see Dr. Chakwas immediately. Tali and Liara would be a little less restrained in their concern. And Wrex would be worried, but show only the slightest hint of anxiety, so as to maintain his Krogan pride.

They were a strange bunch, my crew: warriors, scientists, outcasts and vigilantes. All of them were so very different, but so very united under a single banner.

As if on cue, the doors opened and everyone was there, waiting anxiously. But as soon as they saw me, there was immediate relief. "Thank God" Ashley said as she knelt down to me "We heard the decompression alarm and were worried you might not be with us anymore. It's good to see you're ok… Uh, Sir!" She added abruptly, realizing her lack of respect. Kaiden bent down next to me and helped me up. I winced as I felt pain course through me. Kaiden noticed my flinch and looked down, finding my wounded leg. "You're hurt!" the Lt. exclaimed "He needs medical attention!"

"I'll get Dr. Chakwas!" Garrus said as he turned to run "Someone give him some medi-gel, we need to stop the bleeding"

As Kaiden and Ash helped me to my feet, Tali and Liara came up. Tali looked like she was resisting the urge to hug me. "Shepard, I'm so glad you're ok" Tali said. "Indeed" Liara pitched in "I, to, am glad that you have managed to remain largely unhurt."

As they helped me hobble towards Dr. Chakwas' office, we passed Wrex, who was leaning against a nearby wall. He nodded at me and said "Glad you're in one piece Shepard. It'd get pretty boring without you around."

I just smiled.

My crew…

I wouldn't trade them for anybody.


End file.
